You wouldn't trust a skinny cook, would you?

Say you're interviewing for a personal trainer to help you meet your fitness goals. One guy looks athletic and healthy, lean and solid. The other reminds you of a stale jelly roll. Whom would you hire?

Safe bets are on whichever trainer you'd rather look like. It's all about credibility.

To flourish, marketers need a technology solution that can manage interactions, provide analytical insights and fundamentally improve the performance of their marketing investments.

Matthew Fulk
Senior Manager, Database Marketing

The same applies when it comes to picking the right technology solution to tackle a complex business objective. When you’re comparing vendors for, say, your lead-nurturing strategy, you might pay closer attention to the timing and relevance of their interactions with you. One phone call from a vendor who knows you prefer e-mail could be all it takes for you to scratch that one off your list.

And when you're in the business of researching, developing and selling software for intricate marketing objectives, your own marketing team – not to mention your brand – must pass the ultimate fitness test.

Be relevant!

Today's buyer is more sophisticated than ever, going online to research and evaluate offerings and to engage with peers and vendors. In no time, the buyer can read reviews, success stories, news and analyst reports about offerings and ultimately choose a vendor.

"Customers expect the marketer to listen to what they are saying online and to deliver relevant information based on their needs," says Matthew Fulk, Senior Manager of Database Marketing at SAS. "Having two-way conversations with your prospective customers online is critical in keeping their interest and increasing your chances of keeping the sale."

Conversion rates up by double digits

Using SAS® Marketing Automation to manage lead processes, the SAS Database Marketing team saw a double-digit jump in lead-to-sales conversion rates, while click-through rates improved four-fold and campaign response rates climbed more than 100 percent.

And, with SAS® Marketing Optimization, the team strengthened its contact strategy as well as its ability to measure marketing ROI.

As a result, the group slashed targeted blast lists by an average of 48 percent in a six-month study. Because the team knew which leads to include in each blast, click-through rates rose by 15.56 percent while opt-out rates fell by 43.75 percent.

"It's an exciting time to be a marketing professional," Fulk says. "With so many changes taking place, new opportunities exist that marketers never dreamed of before. To flourish, marketers need a technology solution that can manage interactions, provide analytical insights and fundamentally improve the performance of their marketing investments."

Challenge

Implement a lead-nurturing strategy that delivers relevant content to prospects

The results illustrated in this article are specific to the particular situations, business models, data input, and computing environments described herein. Each SAS customer’s experience is unique based on business and technical variables and all statements must be considered non-typical. Actual savings, results, and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions. SAS does not guarantee or represent that every customer will achieve similar results. The only warranties for SAS products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements in the written agreement for such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Customers have shared their successes with SAS as part of an agreed-upon contractual exchange or project success summarization following a successful implementation of SAS software. Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.